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A Networking Perspective on Starlink's Self-Driving LEO Mega-Constellation

Published: 10 July 2023 Publication History

Abstract

Low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite mega-constellations, such as SpaceX Starlink, are under rocket-fast deployments and promise broadband Internet to remote areas that terrestrial networks cannot reach. For mission safety and sustainable uses of space, Starlink has adopted a proprietary onboard autonomous driving system for its extremely mobile LEO satellites. This paper demystifies and diagnoses its impacts on the LEO mega-constellation and satellite networks. We design a domain-specific method to characterize key components in Starlink's autonomous driving from various public space situational awareness datasets, including continuous orbit maintenance, collision avoidance, and maneuvers between orbital shells. Our analysis shows that, these operations have mixed impacts on the stability and performance of the entire mega-constellation, inter-satellite links, topology, and upper-layer network functions. To this end, we investigate and empirically assess the potential of networking-autonomous driving co-designs for the upcoming satellite networks.

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      cover image ACM Conferences
      ACM MobiCom '23: Proceedings of the 29th Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking
      October 2023
      1605 pages
      ISBN:9781450399906
      DOI:10.1145/3570361
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      Published: 10 July 2023

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      Author Tags

      1. satellite network
      2. autonomous orbital maneuvers
      3. starlink

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